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An employment company helping veterans transition from the Defence Force has launched the Brisbane Veteran Employment Drive, calling on Brisbane-based businesses to employee more than 300 fully-trained veterans.
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WithYouWithMe has targeted the state of Queensland for its veteran employment drive because it has been one of the highest transition locations for veterans as they leave the military.
According to the company's statistics, between 2012 and 2016:
- 4,554 veterans located in South-East Queensland transitioned from the ADF;
- These veterans had an average of 11 years’ experience in the military;
- Of these veterans, 87.5 per cent were male and 12.5 per cent were female; and
- The breakdown by service in South-East Queensland was 69.1 per cent from Army, 17.7 per cent from Airforce – 13.2 per cent from Navy.
The employment drive comes in the lead up to the first WithYouWithMe Brisbane Veteran Career Expo on 23 February, where close to 300 veterans will converge to hear how they can make their transition a success.
Twenty-five employers will be at the expo to meet and interview veteran candidates, including sponsors NAB, Amazon Web Services, Accenture, Splunk, Cubic, Northrop Grumman and PwC. There will be more than 100 jobs on offer for veterans on the day.
WithYouWithMe offers transition support for veterans when they are leaving the military or are looking to make a career change post-transition. WithYouWithMe’s program offers veterans free training to upskill for new careers. The company is calling on local businesses to think about how a highly-skilled veteran could fit into their workplace.
"The skills a veteran can bring to your workplace are unique and highly-sought after. We’ve had more than 2,000 veterans go through our program across the country, with many transitioning into new careers in non-military aligned industries like cyber security, sales and robotics," said WithYouWithMe general manager Tom Larter.
"We currently have more than 300 trained and highly skilled veterans ready to go. Next week’s Brisbane Veteran Career Expo will kick off the employment drive, where some of Australia’s largest companies will be tapping into this talent pool."
Data released by WithYouWithMe last year showed that across the country veterans had an unemployment rate of 30.2 per cent, more than five times the national average. Veterans are also taking an average pay cut of more than 30 per cent when they leave the ADF.
“With the number of veterans transitioning into South-East Queensland each year, Brisbane has the potential to be the veteran capital of Australia. Brisbane businesses should look at jumping on board the veteran employment drive before it’s too late," Larter said.
